The Haunted Castle
by Saiyan Huntress
Summary: Goku's and Vegeta's families go camping in a forest and find an old castle that isn't nowhere on the map. The owners of the castle seem to be nice persons... but the place holds dark secrets between its walls.
1. How the story began

The Haunted Castle

_by__ Saiyan Huntress_

Chapter 1 – How the story began 

It was a cold cloudy evening somewhere in a huge forest to the east of the Western capital. The sun was about to go down and there was slight thundering in the distance. In the middle of the forest, on a small plain, there were three tents and a bonfire. And around this bonfire, there they were – Goku, Vegeta and their both families.

The whole thing had started a few weeks ago. After defeating Buu everything turned back to normal and life went on. But in time something started to get out of hands. Vegeta became more and more nervous and spent his whole time in the Gravity Chamber, training harder than ever. Goku lost nearly twenty percent of his appetite (and that's a lot, you know!). Trunks and Goten didn't get into trouble any more, all they ever did was just playing checkers in the backyard. When Gohan's school marks were getting worse too, Bulma and Chichi got concerned and tried to figure out what the problem was. Piccolo was the one to help them.

"C'mon, isn't it obvious?" he asked. "They're all Saiyans, for your information. Their whole life is based on fighting. After the great battle with Buu they can't get used to the normal life any more. Dontcha worry about it, I'm sure that within a few days some alien scum will come and they're all back in action in no time."

"Perhaps you're right," Bulma said thoughtfully. "But what if that alien scum _won't _come? I'm really worried about Vegeta and Trunks."

"Yeah, and Goku and my sons are losing weight!" Chichi added. "My poor little Gohan got a C on his last test!! Can you imagine?!!? **_C_**!!! This can't go on like this! There has to be _something _we can do!"

Piccolo seemed a bit nervous. "Okay, well then…I suppose if you would...I dunno…You see, I think it's the routine that's making them suffer. Normal life is too boring for them. You know what I mean."

Chichi's eyes narrowed. "No way!" she growled. "No mountain climbing or deep sea swimming or something like that!"

Bulma thought for a moment. "Listen here Chichi, I have an idea. We don't have to get extreme. A nice little old-fashioned camping trip would be totally enough."

"Think so?" Chichi seemed suspicious. "But what about snakes and beasts and…"

Bulma laughed. "Near _our_ husbands? Not gonna happen. Problem solved, let's go home. And thanks a lot, Piccolo, you were a great help. Um, anyway…" Bulma stopped suddenly. "How exactly do you know so much about Saiyan psychology?"

Piccolo scratched his head. "Well, you see, I'm a fighter too. I feel the same thing. Besides, you would be surprised if you knew what kind of books Dende has in his palace."

In short, both families flew into the woods, sent Bulma's parents back home with the only airplane they had and started to walk through the ancient forest. Since the Saiyans could sense auras, it was easy to find animals for food and there were enough springs. For the women's great joy the kids became happy again, Goku's and Vegeta's appetite came back and Gohan re-studied everything he had missed at school. And that gets us to our story here.

So, as you remember, everyone was sitting around the bonfire. Vegeta was cooking a wild boar and the others were listening to Trunks who was telling a horror story.

"And then," he whispered on a quiet spooky voice, "and then she turned around and looked in the mirror and what did she see? Her reflection had no head! Just a bloody neck and no head on it!"

Trunks made a dramatic pause. Chichi shuttered and grabbed her husband's arm. Goku looked at her with surprise.

"And then she screamed and ran outside… right in front of a ten-wheeler! "

"Now that's original," Gohan commented. He wasn't scared at all.

Trunks glared at him. "Do you mind?! Anyway, the truck driver went out of the van and found the woman's dead body. That body had no head just like in the reflection. The police searched and searched but the head was never found."

Chichi squeaked.

"From that day on people keep hearing weird screams from the forest. Some have even seen the bloody head floating in the air and screaming in pain, searching for her missing body. And they say…" Trunks paused again. "And they say that this happened right here in this forest!!"

Vegeta turned the boar leg on the fire.

"Big deal, "he said. " The stupid girl just didn't notice that she was dead and should be in hell playing blackjack with Freeza. Happens all the time. This reminds me, once on a conquering trip to some planet, you know, back on my Freeza's army days, I fought a very weird alien." Vegeta smirked. "He was so dumb that when I ripped his head off, he didn't notice it and kept wondering why he couldn't feel his legs." He started eating.

Everyone stared at him.

"Geez, Dad, your biography would make a better horror story than Hitchcock's worst nightmares," Trunks said. Then he grinned and looked at Goten. "Hey, Goten, is that a woman's head floating right behind you?" 

Goten jumped up. "Where? Where?!!? You're **not** gonna steal my body as long as I live!!! Eat this!!" He gathered an energy ball and blasted it over his shoulder. 

There was no bloody head, of course…but there were the tents. Goten's energy blast destroyed them in a few seconds.

Long silence.

"Smooth move," Goku remarked.

Goten rolled his eyes. "Whoops…"

Gohan went to the black smoking hole in which had been the tents. He looked at the warm ash and said: "Nothing to see here. They're gone. Yup. No tents for us any more." He turned around and looked at the others. "Now what?"  

Another long silence.

Vegeta stood up and put out the bonfire. He gave a short look to the sky, frowned and said: "It will rain tonight. And there will be lightning. I'm used to that stuff but something tells me that you're not. So let's pack our bags and start moving. We need to find a shelter or something."

In a short while everyone was walking through the forest carrying the packs Goten hadn't destroyed. That wasn't much. And it started to rain too. The thunder was deafening, the lightning struck in every twenty seconds and it was raining cats and dogs. The Saiyans were all soaking wet.

"I hope we'll see a shelter of some kind soon, otherwise we'll have to sleep in a pond," Bulma complained.

Trunks didn't seem unhappy at all although he looked like a washing mop. He pranced in the puddles and fantasized: "Hey, what do you guys think, maybe we'll found a huge spooky castle somewhere on a big cliff and it's full of monsters and stuff…"

"No more late night TV for you," Vegeta said.

They walked on, stumbling and freezing. The rain got stronger. 

Suddenly, Chichi began to wail: "I can't take it any more! Why did I agree to come on this crazy trip anyway?! My poor sons will get pneumonia for sure! And you, Goku, why aren't you doing anything? Look at Gohan, he's like a drowned kitten!"

"I'm just fine, Mum!" Gohan argued.

Chichi didn't even listen. "You can fly, all of you, can't you? Well then, let's stop fooling around and go home. We could still make it before the Oprah show!"

Vegeta lost his temper. "Shut up, woman!! This is _really_ getting on my nerves!!!"

Chichi was shocked. She stopped in the middle of a deep puddle and cried: "Goku, do you let him talk to me like that?!!?"

Goku raised his eyebrows. "Me? Why should I kick his butt when you're the one he insulted?"

Chichi was about to give a long lecture about being a gentleman when Goten shouted: "Whoa look, we're almost out of the forest!"


	2. The castle

Chapter 2 – The castle 

The two families exited the forest and reached a field. Suddenly they stopped and gasped.

They saw a huge lake right in front of them. The lake was surrounded with forest and hills. It seemed very deep although it was calm. The full moon above the lake was shiny and mysterious. The shores were rocky and steep. And above the lake's dark waters, on a ledge, there it was. A castle. A big black castle with sharp tall towers and lurid walls.

Goten and Trunks were almost going bananas of the big excitement.

"This is **great**!!!" Trunks jumped around. "A real haunted castle!! Wow, this is gonna be cool!" 

Goten looked like he had found his one true love. "You got that right! Whoopee!! It looks like Hogwarts _and _the Two Towers put together! I wonder if there are any werewolves…"

Bulma looked at a wet piece of paper that used to be a map. She muttered thoughtfully: "Why should a werewolf live in a castle? Hm, now that's weird. This lake isn't on this map. And there's nothing about any historical monuments either."

Goku put his arm around Chichi's shoulders. "Who cares?" he asked. "There is a castle, or what? And I bet there's warmer than out here. C'mon, let's move it." He went towards the black silhouette pulling his wife with him and so the others followed him.

"So, who's gonna ring the bell?" Gohan asked after they had been standing in the rain for five minutes.

Bulma shuttered. "Be my guest. I w-w-w-wouldn't touch that castle's walls even for a million bucks!" 

Goku examined the heavy door curiously. "I don't see the doorbell."

Vegeta stepped up. "These things go like this, Kakarot. Watch and learn." He grabbed a weird-looking knocker that was grinning in the middle of the door and slammed it.

It was quiet for a little while, then the door opened. With a creepy **_SQUEAK_,** of course. 

Everyone was surprised. Trunks and Goten looked disappointed.

There was no pale vampire or hairy werewolf on the door. It wasn't even a ghost. They saw a nice old man in his middle-sixties with grey hair, big moustache and a round friendly face. He wasn't much taller than Vegeta, he wore slippers and a robe and seemed rather sleepy.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

Bulma got her courage back and stepped forward. "Sorry to wake you up," she said, "but we were camping near this place and then it started to rain. We thought that…"

The man didn't let her finish. "But of course, come on in. There's plenty of room. You must be freezing and gosh, you're so wet! Please, don't stand there in that terrible shower. Come in." 

After closing the door and lighting some candles the man pulled a rope and called a servant. Then he introduced himself.

"I'm the count of Darkshore," he said. "Our family has been living in this castle for centuries. Unfortunately my wife and I are the last Darkshores left since we have no children. But we'll talk about it tomorrow. You must be very tired. There comes the butler, Andrew. Andrew, lead these people to some rooms upstairs and take care of their wet clothes. Sleep well and pleasant dreams!" With these words the man left.

Andrew was a tall, pale man with dark hair and a very serious face. "Follow me," he said, took the candlestick and went up the broad staircase. The families followed him.

Trunks looked around. He saw huge portraits, dark walls made of oak and pine, rusty armors, massive doors – everything that goes to a castle. He couldn't see the ceiling; it was too high and there wasn't enough light. The kid nudged his father: "Hey, Dad, do you think there are ghosts in here?"

Vegeta just grunted but the butler turned around and said: "There are always ghosts in old castles. Sometimes they show themselves, and sometimes they don't. You shouldn't worry about them. Usually they're not a big bother."

After learning that there were two families Andrew gave them two big rooms in the end of a dark hallway. One of them, the one for Goku's family was big, dark and spooky but pretty warm and with two huge beds. The other one looked alike but it was smaller and had a wardrobe in size of a small land cruiser in it. The butler gave them two candles and left.

"Well then, good night, you three," Goku told Vegeta's family, yawned and closed the door. Seconds later it opened again and Trunks was flown out.

"But I just wanted to have a pillow fight!" Trunks complained.

"Have it in your dreams, brat," Vegeta suggested and kicked him into their own room. He closed the door and yawned too.

After blowing out the candles everyone fell asleep.

It was a little after midnight when Goten suddenly heard something and woke up. He sat up, listened carefully and shuddered. Then he poked his brother. "Gohan, hey Gohan, wake up! I heard something. Wake up!"

Gohan mumbled, opened his eyes and looked at Goten. "What?" he asked on an irritated voice.

"I just head a strange sound," Goten explained. "It sounded like a moan or something. And there was some clanging too – chains or shackles or so. I told you this place was haunted!"

"Ah, never mind." Gohan yawned loudly and turned the other side. "Even if there are ghosts in here, they couldn't do us any harm. We're Saiyan warriors, remember? Now get back to sleep."

Goten was offended. "But I wanna see a ghost!" he grieved.

Gohan was already asleep so Goten sneaked out of the bed, left the room and crossed the hallway. After getting into the other room without any trouble he tiptoed to Trunks's bed. His buddy was already awake.

"You heard that too, didn't you?" Trunks asked.

Goten nodded. "Yeah, and Gohan said it was nothing."

 "Let's go and find out what it was," Trunks suggested. Goten agreed and the two kids crept to the door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Vegeta's voice was sharp and absolutely non-sleepy.

Goten yelped, but Trunks didn't lose his nerves. "We were just gonna get ourselves a midnight snack."

The Saiyan prince wasn't that stupid. "Yeah right. Tell it to your granny. Get back to bed, now! And you, Kakarot's little brat, get lost before I get angry."


	3. The first ghosts

Chapter 3 – The first ghosts 

The next morning Bulma was the first one to wake up. She noticed that the maid had been to the room and pulled away the curtains. The clothes were lying on the chair, dry and good as new. The woman went to the window and opened it. She leaned on the sill and looked outside.

All she saw was fog. It was everywhere. The ground was impossible to see, the hills on the distance were nothing but black shadows and she could only hear the lake's waves but didn't see them. It wasn't a regular fog which you can see every evening and morning in the mountains. It was more like a typical nightmare or horror movie fog – thick, white and spooky.

"Have you finally lost it?" Vegeta's voice asked behind her. "You can't just hang around an opened window with only your nightdress on and expect to stay healthy! It's cold, you know! Close that darn window and a bit faster if I may please!"

Trunks woke up and rubbed his eyes. "Keep it down, dad!" he grumbled. Then he saw the window and leaped out of the bed this instance.

"Whoa, check out the fog! Just like in the thrillers! Can I go out and fly around a little? Please?"

Bulma shook her head. "Dream on. I don't want you to get lost. Besides, it's almost time for breakfast."

After getting dressed and washing themselves (the mysterious maid had taken care of the water too) the two families went down the stairs and met Andrew who was waiting for them in the hall.

"This way, please," he said and led them to the dining room. The count was already there and so was his wife, a stout and cheerful old lady with a grey bun and a pair of old-fashioned glasses. Everyone introduced themselves, and then they sat to the table and started eating.

"Goku, please!!!" Chichi hissed. "You're embarrassing us all!"

Goku looked sheepish and promised to behave himself. The other Saiyans gave their best and tried to overcome their not-so-very-civilized table manners. For everyone's great surprise Vegeta turned out to have very good behavior.

"Gosh, Vegeta, I'm really proud!" Bulma whispered when the Darkshores weren't hearing. "Where did you learn that?"

Vegeta frowned a little. "I'm a prince, for crying out loud!" he whispered back. "You don't expect a prince to grow up without any table manners, do you?"

"So how come you're not using them at home?" Trunks interjected.

In the meantime the old countess was talking to Chichi. "I'm glad you like our castle," she said. "We don't get many visitors here… Oh my god, what happened to you, young man?" she suddenly asked Trunks.

"Um, nothing. I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." Trunks growled and touched his fresh bump very carefully.

Goku finished a chicken and said: "The food is just great. Really. Who's your cook?"

The countess was flattered and smiled. "We don't have many servants," she replied. "It's hard to find good people these days. We have only Andrew, and then there are two maids, the groom and the gardener. One of the maids is cleaning the rooms, the other one is cooking. That's more than enough for the two of us." 

"You have a gardener?" Gohan asked. "Then where is your garden?"

"To the east side of the castle," the woman said. "It's not big but we like it."

"Do you have any ghosts here?" Goten suddenly asked.

Chichi gave him an angry look but Trunks rushed to help his friend. "Yeah, do you?" he asked. "Goten and I heard strange noises last night."

The count laughed and said. "It was probably just the wind. This old castle has all sorts of small chambers and chimneys in which the wind can play. We hear it all the time."

The answer didn't seem to satisfy Goten but the conversation went already on. 

When the breakfast was eaten Bulma thanked the old couple and said that they should get going but the count said that it was a bad idea.

"The fog is very thick as you've probably already noticed," he said. "You would get lost soon. Believe me, there are many legends that talk about people getting lost in these woods here. Stay here for a little while. My wife and I are quite lonely. The servants are very nice, of course, but some company would be really lovely."

Bulma thought for a moment, then she asked: "What do you guys think?"

 "Good idea," Goku said. "Still better than sitting home or getting lost in the forest, or what?"

Chichi seemed uncertain. "Well, the boys should learn a lot about history in this place…"

"Whatever," Vegeta grunted.

The three boys were excited. "Oh yeah! Let's stay! This place is _cooool_! And we're having a school holiday! Please, let's stay!"

So the families decided to stay. The count allowed them to look around the castle and as soon as there was an opportunity Trunks and Goten galloped to the eastern wing of the castle to examine the rooms. They found a lot. There was a big gallery with many portraits hanging on the walls. There was also a little cabinet full of very old books. The boys found an old ballroom with scraped floor and thousands of spider nets; they came upon a lady's boudoir and made faces to the old wavy mirror; they discovered a library and admired the huge shelves that seemed to disappear to the heights.

"I have an idea," Trunks said. "How about bringing Gohan here? There should be tons of cool stories and legends in these books but they're all so hard to read because of those bizarre letters."

"They must be very old," Goten agreed. "I'll go get him."

Gohan was astonished and said that this had got to be one of the oldest libraries on the planet. He wasn't sure if it was okay to read the books but the kids insisted it. "They're just books. All you have to do is hold it and read down the marks on the pages. What's so illegal about that?"

Finally Gohan agreed to read a short story. He took a big tome and flicked it. Then he looked at the title. "Well, what do you know. "The Legends of Darkshore". That book is more than five hundred years old! Let's see…"

The boys sat down on the dusty floor and Gohan started reading the very first legend. It was about a young lady that had lived in the castle. All the animals from the nearby woods had loved her. One day her father told her that she had to marry a cruel duke from the next county. The girl didn't disagree but on her wedding night she just went outside on the balcony, stabbed a dagger into her chest and jumped down, straight into the lake. The waves of the lake had turned dark from the girl's blood and that's why the lake was called Darkshore. The castle and the family were named later.

"Now **that** was a good spookster!" Trunks said happily when the story was over. "I don't remember hearing such a good horror story for ages!"

Goten nodded. "You said it. I wonder if this really happened. Sounded pretty real to me." Suddenly he goggled. "Hey, look over there. What…what the hell is that?"

The big mirror on the library's wall was covered with dust, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years. Right in front of the boys' eyes crooked letters started to form into the dust. 

**GET OUT! **it said.

"I really hope it meant "get out of the library", not "get out of the castle"!" Goten gasped when they were all panting in the huge hall in front of the staircase.

"You wish," Trunks replied. Then he added cheerily: "This place really is haunted. I knew it! I wonder who that was."

"Let's go back and read the legends all through, perhaps we'll find something about an invisible guy writing get-out messages on the mirror," Gohan suggested sarcastically.

In the afternoon there was another incident. Goku and Vegeta were hanging around in the garden which, as the countess had said, was to the east of the castle. The gardener was a thin tough man in the age of fifty with a brown unfriendly face. He didn't talk much so the Saiyans looked around the garden by themselves. And then Vegeta found something.

"Come on here, Kakarot," he called. "There is a shed here."

Goku came closer. "What about it?"

Vegeta was already inside. He sneaked around and discovered a trapdoor. Before Goku could say anything the Saiyan prince was in the basement.

"I didn't know you were such a sneaker," Goku commented, climbing down the ladder.

Vegeta mumbled: "There is something down here. I can feel it. And I'm going to find out what it is… oh, bingo!!" He looked at a basement wall suspiciously, then his arm muscles tensed and he smashed his fist into the wall. The old blocks fell into pieces and the two men saw a small lapse in the wall. And in this lapse…

"Wow! That must be old!" Goku astonished.

Vegeta nodded. "At least fifty or sixty years. Looks like a young woman. A servant, I assume, when looking at the clothes… or whatever is left of them."

There was a skeleton in the lapse. It was chained and it looked like it had been screaming in the moment of death. The clothes were linen and seemed very old-fashioned.

Goku examined the skeleton. "How do you think she died?"

"Choke, I suppose," Vegeta replied. "Must be one of those typical castle intrigues. I think she heard too much about certain things. However, bricking in alive doesn't sound like an easy murder. The killer had to make sure that no one will find the body."

"How do you know so much about those things?" Goku asked.

Vegeta smirked. "I grew up in a palace. „Intrigue" was one of my first words… Hey, now what?"

A sudden breeze whooshed through the basement. The skeleton's eyes started to glow green. Before Vegeta and Goku realized what was happening they were dashed out through the ceiling.

"Looks like somebody doesn't like visitors," Vegeta commented while pulling himself out of a broken greenhouse. "Or what?"

"Ouches," Goku agreed and tried to maneuver out of a very spiky rose bush.


	4. Getting out of hands

Chapter 4 – Getting out of hands

After the supper the count suggested to go to the library (a newer one in the western wing) and have a nice conversation in front of the fireplace. The library was cozy and warm, it had been cleaned recently and the books in it were not as old as the ones in the haunted library.

"Are there any other libraries in this castle too?" Gohan asked in an innocent voice.

The count nodded. "Yes, there is one. We hold our oldest books there. I'm sorry to say that but visitors aren't allowed to go there. Besides, the key has been missing for many months now."

Gohan waited until the count started a conversation with Chichi, then he quietly asked Trunks and Goten: "If the key to the old library is missing, how come you guys got in?"

"Well, um," Trunks explained, "the door **was** locked, but it had such a teeny-weeny little padlock and so we thought…"

Gohan sighed. "I should have guessed."

Hours went by as the count kept telling stories about the castle and its previous residents. When the clock stroke eleven, Bulma suddenly noticed that it was getting late. She excused and everyone went upstairs to their rooms. Soon were they asleep.

And then, at about two o'clock…

Bulma was right in the middle of a fantastic dream when she heard a shout: "Mum!! Mum, wake up!" A good mother as she was, she woke up at once and looked around. "Trunks?" she asked quickly.

"Up here!" her son's voice called.

Bulma got out of the bed and looked up. She frowned. "What the heck are you doing?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Trunks was floating in the air holding tight against the ceiling. His arms and legs were spread out and he looked like something was holding him up there. The boy seemed a bit nervous but when Bulma asked that question he was offended.

"Do you really think I would float up here in the middle of the night when I could dream my fourth dream already?" he asked furiously. "I can't get down. I have invisible chains round my arms and legs; at least it feels like that. And they won't break! Do something!"

Bulma did something. She went and pushed Vegeta out of the bed. After grumbling a little the prince flew up to Trunks and tried to pull him down. It didn't work.

"Dad, you're tearing me up!" Trunks complained. 

"That's weird." Vegeta examined his son's wrist. He couldn't see any shackle but it was obvious that there was something. Trunks wasn't strong enough to resist Vegeta so there had to be an incredibly hard chain.

Vegeta flew back down and on the same moment the door opened. It was Goku. 

"Wassup?" he asked. "We heard Trunks shouting and thought that something happened."

Bulma explained. A little later everyone was standing in the room and looking at Trunks. The boy glared at them. "Do I have to stay here for the rest of my life?" he demanded.

"Try turning into a Super Saiyan," Goten suggested.

Trunks did so. The whole room went bright as the eight-year-old boy used the greatest powers in the Universe… but then he stopped and turned back to normal.

"I don't want to destroy the castle," he said. "There has to be another way." The ceiling was already full of cracks.

Gohan hadn't said anything but now he left the room and returned in a minute holding something shiny in his hand.

"Let me try," he offered and floated up to Trunks. "Don't move." Gohan gathered his strength and hit the invisible chains with the shiny thing. For everyone's great surprise Trunks fell down at once. On his face, of course.

The boy got up and rubbed his face. "Ow," he said. "You could have at least warned me."

"How did you do that?" Goku asked his son.

Gohan showed him the shiny thing in his hand. It was a piece of metal that looked like steel. It had a very sharp side but the other sides were patchy. Obviously it was a piece of a bigger metal object.

"And what is it?" Trunks asked.

Gohan smiled. "You probably don't know about it but when we fought Buu on the Supreme Kais' planet, I had pulled a legendary sword out of a rock. It was called the Z-Sword. Unfortunately I broke it later and it wasn't much of a use. But the sword was holy and magical so I thought that it would be a good idea to keep a piece of it. You know, just in case. And looks like it was useful."

"Way cool!" Trunks was impressed.

Chichi said: "That's all very nice but could we all get back to bed now?"

The rest of the night was peaceful, though Goku once heard a strange moan. He didn't care about it and turned the other side. And saw a white transparent creature right in front of the bed.

"I've come to take away your soul, oh mortal one!" the ghoul announced.

"Oh really?" Goku yawned loudly. "But I wanna keep it. Get lost, I need to sleep." He fell asleep and hugged the pillow, completely ignoring the ghost. The creature stared at him with surprise, then it started to weep and disappeared through the wall.

The next morning the two families gathered into Goku's family's room to discuss the recent happenings. Trunks, Gohan and Goten told the grown-ups the story with the mirror. Vegeta and Goku informed the others about the ghost in the old shed. When Goku mentioned the ghoul from last night too, the ladies became pretty nervous.

"Let's get out of here!" Chichi pleaded. "I don't want to get killed by some psychopath in a bed sheet! Our home shouldn't be too far from here, if we would fly…"

Goku seemed thoughtful. "Good idea, but this fog is making me worry. We may get lost very easily."

"Where's the problem?" Bulma asked. "Just find the aura of…I dunno…Piccolo or Krillin or Tenshinhan or whoever. You could use them as lighthouses. Whose aura is the nearest?"

The Saiyans concentrated a bit. Suddenly their eyes turned big and they all seemed very shocked.

"What?" Bulma asked. "What is it?" She became restless. "Is something wrong?"

"Blank," Vegeta replied.

Bulma blinked. "S'cuse me?"

"A total blank," Vegeta explained. "There's absolutely nothing. No auras. It feels like the whole universe is gone. Even dead people have auras but there is _nothing_ outside this castle." He paused and hesitated.

"Any… anything else?" Bulma asked. She sounded very scared.

Vegeta nodded. "In case you didn't notice, I said "outside this castle"."

Bulma and Chichi squeaked.

"The five servants _do _have auras," Goku said, "but they're dead auras. And they're not the only dead auras in this castle. This place has more ghosts in it than a Scooby-Doo movie."

Gohan added: "Besides that, the Darkshore couple is not dead. But they're not alive either. They have very strange auras. Trunks was probably right – they might be vampires or werewolves or even zombies."

Vegeta shook his head. "No."

"No?" everyone asked.

Vegeta looked at them. "Trust me, I've seen all sorts of creatures in my life. It wasn't a long time ago when I was dead myself and spent some hours in the Hell – that was before I was called back to save the world. Anyway, I saw every freak of Mother Nature in this place and none of them had such auras. I don't know who they are but they're not human and not alive, that's for sure."

A long silence. "So what are we going to do?" Goten asked. "We can't leave the castle until we have found somebody's aura."

Trunks grumbled. "These ghosts are really weird. They're telling us to get out and then they make that huge cloud of fog around the castle so that we can't get out! Where's the logic in that?"

The others looked at him with surprise. "The fog?"

"Sure, what else?" Trunks asked. "Look at that fog. It has been here just as long as we have. I bet the ghosts are making it so that we couldn't sense the auras of other people outside the castle and have to stay here. Why else do you think that fog is here for? At least it's not normal, I can tell you that."

Vegeta seemed thoughtful. "I suppose the brat is right. The fog could be the cause of it. The question is why."

"Stupid question," Goten replied. "They want to scare us out of the castle and mislead us into the forest so that they could… um… whatever it is they want to do with us. One way or another, I'm sure it's not a nice thing they're up to."

"This is getting spooky," Goku said. "I'm not afraid of anyone as long as I know who I'm fighting. But God knows how strong they may be…"

"But we can't leave. Or should we try?" Chichi asked. "If we would walk long enough, we should get somewhere eventually."

Vegeta said it was a bad idea. "They might lead us in circles. There are plenty of magical things that allow it. We would starve to death."

Finally they decided to stay and tell the Darkshores nothing about their discovery. "If they want us, they'll show their motives soon. All we have to do is wait." Vegeta said.

The breakfast was tasty but even Goku didn't eat much. In the afternoon it started to rain but the fog didn't disappear. The Darkshores went on a walk to the lakeshore and the two families used the time to sneak around. The children led them to the old library and showed them the mirror – which was covered with twenty-year-old dust again. The book with the legends was still there though, and it wasn't dusty so everyone could see that the kids weren't lying.

"I bet the old shed and the greenhouse are fine too," Vegeta said. "Let's go and take a look."

He was right. The shed's roof had the same old rotten planks in it. The greenhouse in which Vegeta had landed was just the same. But there was still a proof for the Saiyans' story. The spiky rose bush had Goku's clear butt print in it.


	5. Who are they?

Chapter 5 – Who are they?!

The old clock in the hall chimed three when they were all sitting in the new library. The Darkshores still weren't back. The servants were all in their rooms so Trunks and Goten suggested going to the basement and looking for some clues. Bulma and Chichi were afraid to go but they didn't want to stay upstairs either. And they also didn't want the boys to go. Finally Vegeta said that he would look after the brats and the three went down a cold and dusty staircase that led to the underground.

"What do you expect to find anyway?" Vegeta asked. "Two coffins with thousands of candles around them? I told you they're not vampires."

Trunks held firm to his decision. "The basements are always perfect places for hiding some dark secrets. I mean, look at Mum for example – she's been dieting for a month now but guess who found a nice little fridge in the Capsule Corporation's basement lately?"

Vegeta raised his eyebrows. "So **that's** where she's hiding those muffins. Listen Trunks, I'll take you to the amusement park if you won't tell your mother that I know about it, okay?"

Trunks agreed but Goten frowned. "I have a mouth too, remember?"

Vegeta grinned. "It's a deal. You will both come. But don't forget, failing on me will teach you the real meaning of the word "pain", and I mean it!"

They reached the basement and sensed around. Then they said at the same time: "A secret passage." and destroyed an old wall next to them. There was a passage, of course, and following it brought them to a small room with a spiral staircase.

"The high tower in the southern wing," Trunks assumed. "I thought it had no staircase at all."

Vegeta grinned. "So, where does this staircase lead?"

Trunks scratched his head. "To a little chamber with a ghostly lady dressed in white sitting in there and combing her hair…"

Vegeta started going up the stairs without saying a word.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I can fly and that I'm so darn curious!" grumbled Trunks, following his father. Goten sighed and flew up too.

After climbing a little they reached a little chamber which wasn't as dusty and full of spider nets as the rest of the castle. It had a small bed and a bedside table in it. And a young lady dressed in white combing her long golden hair. When the three entered the chamber she looked up and smiled. Her eyes were big and blue but absolutely empty. No pupil, no iris, nothing. However, she wasn't blind. The lady stopped combing and said:

"Oh, hello there. Nice to see you again, Trunks. And you brought your father and your little friend too. I'm very glad to meet you."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I know I'm a prince and all, but **that **kind of talking is way too silly – even for me!"

Trunks explained: "She's been up here for almost four centuries now so don't expect too much. Nice to see you too, Lorelei. How's it going?"

The lady turned out to be the daughter of a rich duke who had been related to a princess who had been the granddaughter of… anyway, she was a Darkshore too. She had wanted to marry a boy from the village but her parents didn't allow her to, blah-blah-blah, so her old granny who was a witch turned the boy into a wolf and locked the girl into the tower. A typical story.

"So how did you die?" Goten asked with great curiosity. "They starved you to death?"

"Don't be stupid," Vegeta yawned. "That would be too easy. Let me guess. The boy who had been turned into the wolf once found a way inside the tower, came in here and killed you so that you could be free?"

The girl gave him a surprised look. "How did you know?"

Trunks and Goten were still very interested. "But you're a ghost. You're not free. What happened? And what about the boy?"

"A curse," Vegeta mumbled.

The girl nodded. "My grandmother cursed me to stay here in this tower forever, sitting on the bed and combing my hair. My fiancée is now a rock on the lakeshore."

Trunks and Goten sniffed. "How… how tragical…"

Vegeta sighed. "For crying out loud... Listen here, lady, who are these two wiseguys that call themselves the present owners of the castle?"

"I've been sitting here for many, many years now. I don't know anything about the castle in present. My only friend is the wind. My only wish is to become free." The girl looked at Vegeta, empty eyes full of tears. "Can't you help me? Please…"

Vegeta grunted. "**What **on earth am I doing here in this looneyhouse? Yeah… whatever, take this." He raised his arm and formed a small bright energy orb. And then he hit the girl with it.

The whole room went bright blue. The lady sighed happily, stood up, raised her arms and cried: "I'm free! Finally, after all these years, I'm free!" She turned to Vegeta. "Thanks to you, I will go to the heaven now. How can I ever thank you?"

"Stop that pathetic twaddle and get lost already," Vegeta suggested.

Seconds later the girl was gone. There was nothing left that could have shown about her presence. The furniture disappeared and suddenly the room looked like any other deserted tower chamber, full of dust and spider webs. A sudden breeze picked up behind the window, and then died down again.

Trunks looked up and said: "I hope she'll have a good time in the heaven."

"I really don't think so," said Vegeta. "Let's go down already." They turned around and left the room.

(In the meantime a young lady in a white dress was standing in front of King Enma's desk, looking very surprised. King Enma was foraging in some papers and mumbling: "Men, this is really irritating! How many times have I asked the Supreme Kai to change that silly rule about curses? Now where could that be…1436? 1288? Nah, wrong timeline. Hey lady, on what year were you born anyway? OK, and what planet? Ah, that place…I've always said that these Dragonballs are a big pain in the… I'll go talk to the Supreme Kai first thing in the morning. Listen, um, we might have a little problem. Since the Heaven is totally reserved at the moment I'm gonna have to send you down to the Hell. Don't worry; it's not as bad as they have probably told you because of those European Union's new conventions. We built a new shopping mall recently, I bet you'll like it. Oh, I almost forgot – Freeza's blackjack club holds its meetings every Thursday, I heard that they're taking new members. I just thought you might be interested… Next please.")

"Say Dad, how did you know that this girl needed an energy orb to be free?" asked Trunks as they were coming up the basement's staircase.

"I didn't," his father replied. "I just wanted her to shut up. And besides that, if a person is killed but not dead what would be the only reasonable thing to do? Kill her again. Just like a computer refresh."

Trunks raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? Geez… Hey, how'bout going down to the lakeshore and freeing the boy in the rock too?" 

"Do whatever you want, I'll go upstairs and get myself a good meal." Vegeta looked at the huge clock on the wall and paused for a second, sensing something. "The couple isn't back yet. They're somewhere in the forest. Weird."

"Preparing for a ghostly and dark ritual, I suppose," Goten said.

"Since you have nothing to do, maybe you should try doing the thing you're best at – sneaking," Vegeta suggested. "Go and check out the servants or something. They might talk about things that may be useful for us to know. That Gohan-kid seems to be in the old library, perhaps he has found something already. I don't like sitting in unawareness."

"Excuse me Mr. Gardener, sir," Trunks asked the gardener in the backyard, "do you know where the nice old lady is? She has been away for many hours now, I'm getting concerned…"

The gardener frowned. "The mistress is fine. Nothing will ever happen to her now that he's gone… and he'll never be back, I can tell you that. That bastard will never hurt the mistress again and the master neither, do you hear me?"

Goten shrugged when they were leaving the garden. "Yikes…What did he mean by that?"

"Let's ask Gohan," Trunks said and so the left to the castle and found the old library after sensing Gohan's aura.

"Funny. I have no idea what he meant. But I'll keep looking," Gohan promised. He was sitting on the library's floor in the middle of a huge pile of books.

Trunks looked at the old mirror. "Any ghosts yet?"

Gohan shook his head. "Nope. Only weird auras flying around and trying to throw books at me. Where are the grown-ups?"

Goten and Trunks found their parents in the old ballroom. Chichi had found a skeleton in a lapse behind a big portrait, Goku and Bulma were trying to calm her down at the moment and Vegeta was examining the skeleton.

"All these dark secrets are growing way over my head," he announced. "That skeleton here was a young boy – probably a servant or the cook's assistant. I think that he died on the same time as the lady in the shed, remember, Kakarot?"

"Just like a soap opera," said Bulma. "Everyone is related to someone, everyone knows too much, people kill each other…"

"Gosh, was I scared…Where is Gohan?" Chichi asked the kids.

Trunks pointed to the hallway. "In the old library, sticking his nose into the dark secrets of this castle which shouldn't actually exist in this reality. The secrets, that is. Sounds like fun to me. Wanna come too?"

"I-i-i think I'll skip it," Chichi replied.

"Your problem. C'mon, Goten." The two brats flew away through the corridor.

Gohan was flipping a huge book when Trunks and Goten returned. He looked up and said: "You could help me, you know. Just don't mess with the piles. Hm, here's something… don't bother me now, you hear me?" He started reading and the kids looked around.

Suddenly Goten poked Trunks. "What's that?" he asked.

"Um… a slimy ghoul sitting on a pile of books right in front of Gohan?" Trunks asked back.

Gohan looked up. "What?" he asked angrily. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm here to rip out your brain and eat it alive!!" the ghoul growled.

"They get more and more irritating every time," Gohan explained to the kids. "Get lost!" He smashed a small Kamehameha into the ghoul. The creature screamed and fell out of the window.

The boys excused and left, Gohan kept on reading. He finished flipping one book, then another one, then he found an old tome from a secret box and looked that through too. The Darkshores returned after a few hours, the sun was going down – though no one could see it through the thick fog. Just as Gohan found a very simple little brown book which didn't seem very important, the bell rang. It meant that the supper was served.

"So, did you have fun in our castle today?" the count asked when they were all enjoying the meal. "I'm sorry that we had to be away for such a long time. We had some things to settle."

"Oh yeah, it was super!" Trunks said enthusiastically. "What did you do anyway?"

"Nothing that a little boy such as you should know about," the countess said. She turned to Bulma and started talking about some recipes, so she couldn't hear Trunks's quiet angry grunt: "That little boy has saved the world not so long time ago, for your information!"

Vegeta was sitting quietly, trying to remember which fork to use next and frowning slightly. He had noticed that although it was still raining outside, the Darkshores had been totally dry when they returned…

When the supper was eaten, everybody went to the library to have a nice talk. Only the count excused and left somewhere, and Gohan excused too. He asked a candle from Andrew and returned to the old library. The simple little book had something in it… something very important. Gohan found a small chapter in the book and this chapter made him gasp. He read the whole book through and his eyes were full of surprise when he finished.

"I must tell it to the others!" he quietly whispered to himself as he sneaked out of the library. It was already half past eleven. Gohan passed a small cabinet as he heard somebody's voice saying: "Tonight, my dear. It will happen tonight." It was the count.

"I'm so glad," the countess's voice replied. "It has been too long."

Gohan came into his family's room. The others were already sleeping but Gohan woke them up and told them about the Darkshores' dialog. He didn't talk about the story in the book. Not yet.


	6. The big finale

Chapter 6 – The big finale

 It was a bit after one o'clock when the door to Vegeta's family's room quietly opened. The count slid in and closed the door. He wasn't the same any more. His eyes were burning and his face was a lot paler. The count stopped and looked around – or sensed? Then he sneaked to Trunks's bed and looked at the kid. The eight-year-old Saiyan was asleep.

"You poor innocent child," the count whispered. "After I've reached my destination you'll never get such a peaceful sleep any more. If you will survive."

He turned around and went to Vegeta. Even in sleep the man was frowning a bit. But he was breathing calmly and seemed totally undisturbed

"Who the hell are you?" the count quietly asked. "You're stronger than most people that have reached the castle. Oh well, the better for us – we should get a lot of energy from you! But first…" He went to the other side of the bed and looked at Bulma.

"Perfect," he whispered. He opened his mouth exposing a pair of long sharp vampire fangs, leaned over and bit…

Or actually…

Before the man could understand what was happening he was pushed against the wall with steely fingers squeezing his throat. The count looked up and saw a pair of very angry eyes. The eyes that were known in many parts of the universe.

"So, you really are a blood-sucker." Vegeta's voice was cold. "But you're not as smart as most of them. Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to mess with the prince of the Saiyans?"

The creature gasped. "The…the prince of the Saiyans? That means you are…you are **that** Prince Vegeta?"

Vegeta grinned. "A bright one, aren't you."

Bulma sat up and touched her throat. "Now that was scary," she said. "I could almost feel the white fangs pushing themselves into my blood…"

"Both you and Trunks have had way too much TV," Vegeta remarked.

The door opened and Goku's family came in.

"Everyone OK?" asked Goku.

"The count tried to kill Mum but yeah, nothing much happened," Trunks explained.

"Where's the countess?" asked Vegeta, still holding the count by his throat. The man had stopped breathing a while ago but he was still alive – even too alive.

Gohan pushed the old lady into the room. "Right here," he said. "Can you imagine? We thought that they were a nice old couple. But look at them." The Darkshores didn't look the same any more. Their eyes were glowing; their ears were a bit longer and had sharp tips just like Piccolo's; they were both hissing and showing their long vampire teeth.

"Who are they?" Chichi asked.

"It's a long story," Gohan replied. "It started five hundred years ago when these creatures were sent out of the Hell because they refused to obey the rules."

"No shock there," Vegeta commented. "This place really is a hell. Did you know that they make everybody brush their teeth every single morning? _Before_ breakfast."

"So anyway," Gohan continued, "they were sent here into this region and told to live here for eternity. They stayed here and there was no problem for a while. But then…You see, they are a race of non-dead creatures. They're not vampires as Vegeta said, but they're very close to them. They are called Day Vampires. They don't mind daylight, they don't hate garlic and a wooden stick doesn't hurt them. They need blood to survive, of course, so they started robbing people from the nearby villages. A Day Vampire's bite doesn't kill or turn you into one of them. It just sends you down to another dimension, empty and lifeless like a desert but alive."

Bulma looked at the couple. "You were gonna do that to us too, right?" The countess hissed, it was good enough for an answer.

Gohan went on. "The vampires mixed with the local aristocratic family, the Darkshores, and soon they were all evil. The local people were scared but there was no one who could have defeated them."

"Let me guess." Trunks hopped out of the bed. "And then someone came and he was strong enough to do the job?"

"Only one attack in this universe is strong enough to annihilate our whole race," the count suddenly said. "Curse him! He did it all by himself. He is the only creature in this world that possesses the power to form that great attack – the strongest one anyone had ever seen. My wife and I were the only ones to survive and since we have no children, our race will die with us. But we will live forever. He is not coming back. He thinks that we are all dead. So nothing will threaten us any more." He burst into laughter. "Only he is strong enough to kill us but he won't return. I don't think he's even alive any more."

"Gohan?" Goten asked.

Gohan nodded. "It happened nearly two hundred years ago. The person who killed the race really was the strongest one back then."

"But he's dead now?" Bulma asked.

"No." Gohan scratched his head. "Here's the big one. He's still alive – and not as strong as you probably think. As a matter of fact, compared to us he's a real weenie."

"Do you know him?" Chichi asked.

Gohan smirked. "I'll give you a tip. The powerful attack that wiped out the vampire race was called the Kamehameha."

Everybody's eyes turned very big.

"It was **him**? It was Master Roshi?!?" Bulma shouted. "That old pervert once saved the whole world?"

"He was very strong, of course," Goku said thoughtfully. "And the Kamehameha really is a powerful attack. But yeah, it's hard to imagine Master Roshi saving the planet. Or what?"

Goten nodded. "You said it. I was always wondering why he invented that attack. Who would have guessed…"

"Well…" Goku scratched his head. "Actually he invented it because he wanted to show off in front of his rival, you know, that Master Crane of whoever that was. Looks like it came in handy."

"I would love to stand here all night holding that creep by his throat, " Vegeta interjected, "but usually I tend to sleep a little before breakfast."

"Oh yeah, sorry Vegeta." Goku turned to the others. "What should we do with them?"

"A nice little Kamehameha would do the trick but I don't see a reason for destroying them," Gohan said. "After all, they want to live too. Just like us."

The count grinned. "Where do you expect to find a hero that would possess the Kamehameha? That would require an enormous fighting power. Even the Saiyans aren't strong enough to do it. And that Master Roshi who killed our race is too old now."

Vegeta grinned back at him, lifted him up and turned to the others. "Somebody make him shut up," he ordered, "or I'll do it myself and that won't be pretty."

Goku put his hands together and quickly formed a Kamehameha. "Happy now?"

The count gasped and tried to break free from Vegeta's hands. The countess screamed and started to run away but Gohan caught her. The wind was going wild and a storm tided on the lake as the two creatures were full of fear for their lives.

"It's impossible!" the countess cried. "Even the great race of Saiyans can't use the Kamehameha! **Who are you**?!"

Goku kindly introduced them. "Okay, pay attention. Vegeta and I are both full-blooded Saiyans. These two women are human. And those three kids, I mean the teenager and the little brats, they're all half-blooded Saiyans. By the way, my both sons can use the Kamehameha too so I think that you've misunderstood the whole theory."

"The great Saiyan race is dead," Vegeta added. "There are only two left – Kakarot and I. It looks like during living here in this forest for five hundred years you didn't get many newspapers here or what?"

"But this means… this means that you must be as strong as the legendary Super Saiyans!" The count was terrified.

"Stronger," Trunks corrected.

"Okay, Gohan, so you think that we should let these two bastards live?" asked Vegeta. "They don't bother me as long as they keep about two miles away from me. But the local people seem to have a real problem with them. Don't get me wrong, I don't care about them, but…"

"But you haven't killed anyone for ages and you would love to practice your wannabe-Kamehameha on them," Bulma said.

Goku turned to Vegeta. "You can really do the Kamehameha?" he asked with big interest.

The prince shook his head. "Nope, it's just an energy wave that looks like the Kamehameha. I thought that a new attack would be a nice exchange."

Goku chortled. "So how do you call it? Baby Final Flash?"

Vegeta frowned. "Ha-ha. Aren't you funny. You really crack me up. Anyway, we have two day vampires here and I want to sleep! If someone hasn't come up with a good idea in the next five minutes I'll kill them both and get back to bed, end of story!"

"Now hold your horses," said Bulma. "Gohan said that they were sent out of the Hell, right? I think that after five hundred years maybe they're willing to take them back. After all, everybody deserves a second chance. Remember your first fight with Goku? You wouldn't be alive tonight if he would have let Krillin kill you."

"I only did it because I didn't want Krillin to cut himself with the sword," Goku remarked.

"I don't see a difference," Vegeta said with a yawn. "They'll get to the Hell one way or another. My way is shorter. I don't hear any objections? Good." He started forming an energy blast.

"Vegeta, wait!!!" Bulma yelled. "Goku, take these two to King Enma and see if they will accept them. If not, then it's Vegeta's turn. Is that fine with you, you over-aggressive Saiyan prince?"

Vegeta yawned again. "No but have it your way. I'm sleepy."

Seconds later, Goku was gone with the couple. Two more seconds and he was in front of King Enma's desk.

"Hey!!!" some spirits shouted behind them. "What's the big idea?! No pushing in!!"

"Sorry 'bout it," Goku said over his shoulder. "It won't take long. Hi again, King Enma!"

"What…oh, it's you." King Enma seemed bored. "What is it this time? You're dead once again?"

Goku shook his head and told the story. It took a little while before King Enma realized where the point was since Goku has never had a very good memory as you probably know… Finally King Enma found some old papers from his drawer and looked at them.

"Ahah, yes, the last two Day Vampires," he said. "We threw them out some centuries ago. They refused to quit drinking from the blood ponds of Hell as I remember. Okay, maybe I really should give them a second chance. The blood ponds are so polluted that it shouldn't become a problem any more." He called two ogres and ordered them to take the vampires away.

"See ya guys around!" Goku shouted to them. "Say hello to Freeza and Cell from me!"

"Anything else?" King Enma asked. "I'm a busy man."

"That's all for now. Thanks a lot, King Enma!" Goku concentrated and left.

He returned to the others and told them that the Darkshores are back in the Other World. Meanwhile the fog around the castle was fading and the lake calmed down. Suddenly the door opened and Andrew the butler came in quietly.

"You took the master and the mistress back to the Hell?" he asked. The families could see a big bunch of ghosts standing behind him. "I thought so. I knew that only you, the legendary Saiyans, could get rid of them once and for all."

"How do you know about the Saiyans?" Vegeta asked.

Gohan answered the question before the butler. "Andrew's story is in one of those books in the old library. He came here in this castle already as a ghost. He came from the outer space nearly 40 years ago, right?"

Andrew nodded. "They refused to let me into the Other World after I died because I was too dangerous. I used to be a spy on planet Plant."

"Plant?" Bulma asked. "Say, Vegeta, wasn't that the planet the Saiyans conquered last before Freeza found them?"

Vegeta nodded. "You were a spy," he told Andrew. "What for?"

"It's a long story about a king that wanted to conquer the Universe. I worked for him. I was killed during one of those sessions and since they didn't let me to the Hell I had to fly around the space until I found this planet. I lived here for a while, and then the officials of the Other World found me and put me here in this castle. The other ghosts and ghouls are local. Most of them are the spirits of the previous Darkshores, the pure ones that weren't vampires yet. They're all very thankful."

"How can we repay you?" a pale slim girl with an apron asked. She was the maid.

Goku yawned loudly. "Listen, guys, I think our work is done here. Should we leave the castle tomorrow or do you want to stay? These ghosts seem pretty nice and the food is fine too. But I'm getting a bit homesick."

Goten agreed: "Some boring daily routine would be cool. I've had enough action for a while."

"And I bet Gohan is missing Videl," Trunks added, ignoring Gohan's angry hissing. "Hey you ghosts, it looks like we'll leave tomorrow but right now we could use some sleep and a nice hot meal in the morning. In case you don't have a problem with that."

The rest of the night was quiet and the next morning the bright sun was shining on the castle's stony walls. All the ghosts had prepared a huge breakfast and the families ate it all. In five minutes or so.

Trunks mumbled with his mouth full: "These ghost's aren't so bad. And the meat is fresh! Where did you get it?"

"It's a wild deer," the tubby cook said proudly. "I scared it to death myself."

Chichi had already gotten over her fear and was talking to the boy whose skeleton was in the lapse in the ballroom. "Your father did it?" she asked. "What kind of a crazy bastard was that?"

"He killed my sister and I saw it so he had to kill me too," the boy explained. "He was sent to the Hell but we're still here. See?" He pointed to a girl that was talking to Goku.

"So the only reason why you dashed us out through the ceiling was the fact that you were taking a _bath_?" Goku asked with great surprise. "But you were a ghost! We couldn't see you! And where is that bath in the shed anyway?"

"Oh you see, after you've been dead for sixty years you start forgetting some things," the girl said. "I fixed the greenhouse and the ceiling afterwards, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but the rose bush was still on a bad place," Goku complained.

Meanwhile Goten poked his brother. "Gohan, look, an old buddy of yours!" It was the slimy ghoul Gohan had thrown out of the window.

Gohan greeted him: "Howdy! How's it going? I hope I didn't throw you out too hard. You see, I was quite nervous and-"

"Forget it," the ghoul replied merrily. "No hard feelings. I won't be able to use three of my arms for some centuries but yeah, no problems."

Bulma was talking to the transparent ghost that Goku had met one night. The creature turned out to be a real neurotic.

"You have no idea how hard this all is!" the ghost grieved. "All this flying around and scaring people – it makes me so… oh, you know… I don't know if I can take it any more! People aren't the same as they were two hundred years ago! You give your best to scare them and all they say is "get outta here"!!" He fell on Bulma's shoulder and started weeping. "I'm so stressed! Do you know that I take antidepressants every single day?" He jumped up and looked at Bulma. "You're not afraid of me either, are you? I thought so!" He fell back. "Oh, why me? Life was already hard enough, but being dead is a killer!"

Bulma rolled her eyes and patted the ghost on the thing that used to be his back. "There there," she said. "Maybe you could use a good therapist? Or take some days off and go visit your relatives or something. Trust me, it always works."

The ghost sniffed. "Really?"

Bulma nodded and smiled at him. "You don't have to kill yourself… I mean, be too hard on yourself because of your job. I'm sure that your boss will understand."

Vegeta who had listened to the whole story, sighed. "When do we start going?" he demanded. The breakfast was gone already.

"Not now," Chichi replied. "It started to rain again. I don't want my boys to get wet."

The families plus all the ghosts (minus the nervous one who had followed Bulma's suggestion and left for the Satan City to visit his granny) went to the new library and made a huge fire into the fireplace. Which meant that Goku almost blew up the chimney.

"What will happen to the castle?" Bulma asked the ghosts.

"We will stay here," Andrew replied. "One day the villagers will risk coming up here, find it empty and sell it to some rich arrogant family. This should be fun. You're always welcome to visit."

Chichi looked to the window. "Look at that rain," she said. "It's just like the nature is happy to get rid of these horrible creatures and now it's trying to wash off everything that is left of them in here."

Andrew nodded. "Exactly."

"I almost forgot." Trunks turned to the ghosts. "What was the couple doing on that day in the forest?"

"Preparing for their ritual," the cook answered. "You don't want to know the details."

Chichi continued:" I'm glad that they're gone and… _what the heck is that_?!"

Everyone gazed to the window. It was one of those high and ornamented windows that are so typical to old castles, especially libraries. It was nearly five meters – or ten feet – high and at the moment it was bright white because of the lightning. And in front of that bright background there was a black slim silhouette. It was standing outside in the rain on the windowsill.

As the others were staring at the window it flew wide open and the silhouette leaped in bringing cold wind and whipping rain with it. The fire in the fireplace turned out. The women started to scream – the ghosts too, by the way.

The newcomer closed the window with a single gesture, went to the fireplace and turned the fire back on. Using an energy blast. Then she turned around.

"Stop that yelling already," she said. "I'm on your side now, remember?"

Vegeta was the first one to say something. He was actually the only one that hadn't startled. "I didn't expect you to come here," he said. "You sure know how to make a good entrance, I can tell you that."

Bulma gasped. "Android 18! Men-oh-men, you scared the living daylight out of us!"

The cyborg smirked. "The door was closed; I didn't want to break it and I could feel that you guys were sitting here so I came in here."

"Are you on a vacation too?" Gohan asked curiously.

Android 18 shook her head. "No, and yours is over for now. Piccolo sent me here. There are some strong aliens loose on the Papaya Islands and we need you Saiyans to get rid of them."

"And you with Piccolo couldn't do it?" Goku asked.

The woman sighed. "Let's just say that we spared them for you because Piccolo told me about your yearn for good fighting. The rain is almost over. Shall we go?"

Goku jumped up. "Oh yeah! Let's go guys! We can drop Bulma and Chichi off at my place; it should get on the way. Hey, move it already!!"

"Have a good time and come back soon!" the tall butler shouted as the two families were flying off to the distance.

"It wasn't such a bad adventure at all, what do you think, Vegeta?" Goku asked the Saiyan prince.

"Maybe," Vegeta agreed.

The sun was shining over the huge forest as the Saiyan fighters left it and turned to the big ocean to meet another great challenge of their warrior lives.


End file.
